AMF Tjanstepension AB Has $22.59 Million Stock Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

AMF Tjanstepension AB reduced its position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 256,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 40,035 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB’s holdings in Sempra were worth $22,591,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Sempra by 633.4% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,624,000 after purchasing an additional 25,838 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter worth approximately $33,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Sempra by 8.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $286,695,000 after acquiring an additional 278,183 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Sempra by 1.9% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 357,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,865,000 after acquiring an additional 6,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter worth approximately $675,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 price objective (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.50.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $69.23 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Sempra has a 1 year low of $64.89 and a 1 year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.37%.

Sempra Company Profile

Sempra operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Sempra California, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra Infrastructure. The Sempra California segment provides electric services; and natural gas services to San Diego County.